Chapter Ten
Robb had barely taken the time to enjoy the news about his sister being found alive, he was so consumed with anger at what Roose Bolton had done to the Freys that all he wanted was to put down the Bolton family once and for all.
His northern force arrived at the Dreadfort and began laying siege immediately. Robb was in no mood to negotiate and had ordered the handful of catapults they had brought with them to begin hurling a mixture of projectiles into the castle he had ordered that as much as possible they should use incendiary projectiles because in his own words "I want to burn House Bolton and its fucking castle to the ground" in truth many of his lords had never seen this side of him before and were equally scared of it but also respected him more for it as it would serve as a harsh warning to anyone who tried to rebel against his rule in the future.
The castle caught fire very quickly and to keep up the pressure Robb ordered the catapult crews to keep firing day and night. On the morning of the fourth day Roose Bolton his son Ramsay and the rest of the remaining defenders came out under a white flag of truce "Your Grace we are here to surrender and to seek your forgiveness" Roose said as he fell to his knees "all of you pile your weapons up and stand over there" Greatjon ordered all the men complied "What were you thinking Bolton?" Lord Karstark asked "I wanted to claim the Twins as my reward once I put a son in Walda Frey but she killed herself after we…." Roose trailed off "after you butchered all the Freys" Robb finished for him. A few minutes later Robb addressed the Bolton force "you men may have only been carrying out orders but you still have the blood of innocent people on your hands not only did you murder those people but by following the actions of your Lord you committed treason I hereby sentence you to death" Robb nodded his head and the Stark soldiers carried out the order of their king killing all the soldiers. "please spare my son Your Grace" "no" was the simple reply Roose got before Greatjon cut off Ramsay's head. Robb stood over Roose "I Robb Stark the King in The North sentence you to death for murder and treason, do you have any last words?" "you stopped being my King the day that Tyrell bitch convinced you to take the Iron Throne" Robb swung his sword and cut off Bolton's head. The Dreadfort was still burning an hour later when Greatjon came to Robb "what do you want us to do about the castle and the corpses" "leave them to rot and burn I want this to serve as a lesson to everyone that this is what happens to houses that commit such horrific acts under my rule" "yes Your Grace I will get the lads ready to march south" "it will be good to see Arya again".
Catelyn had never rode a horse so fast in her life, she and Margery along with their guards made the journey to Harrenhall in record time. Riding into the main courtyard Catelyn jumped off her horse as soon as she saw Arya who in turn ran to her mother the two of them embraced for ages with tears of joy before separating "I thought I would never see you again Arya" "I was so scared" Arya proceeded to tell her mother about everything that had happened to her.
Margery had walked over to her father and brother to give the two Starks some privacy "thank you for looking after her for us father, Garlan" "of course Margery" Garlan replied "why did you say us?" Mace added "I am equally of House Tyrell and House Stark now father she is my sister by law after all". As they spoke Catelyn led Arya over to them "Lord Tyrell Garlan I cannot thank you enough for finding her and taking good care of her I am sure Robb will reward you both for this" "we require no reward Lady Stark it was the least we could do" Garlan said before Mace added "well a reward would be…." "father!" Margery stated coldly as she glared at Mace who looked taken back with what had happened "Have you heard anything from Robb?" Margery asked her brother "yes he has crushed Roose Bolton ad is on his way here since Brynden Tully is brining the rest of our army here ahead of schedule" "I am glad Robb has dealt with that situation now hopefully we can finish this war" Margery concluded before turning to Arya "It is an honour to meet you Arya I have heard so much about you from your mother and brother" Arya looked up at Catelyn who smiled and nodded to her "thank you Lady Tyrell" Margery was a little confused she glanced at her father and brother Garlan spoke for them "we did not want to tell her everything that has happened until her mother got here" Margery nodded her understanding and agreement "Arya" Catelyn said causing her daughter to look up at her "this is Queen Margery Robb's wife" the young Stark looked shocked.
By the time that Robb and his army arrived at Harrenhall his Uncle Brynden had brought the Riverlands portion of the army and Arya had been told fully of all the events that occurred in the last few months. Robb rode into Harrenhall and was greeted by cheers and renditions of "The King in The North" by his men, he dismounted his horse and was almost tackled to the ground by Arya as she jumped into his arms "Robb!" she yelled "I have missed you Arya" he said as he held his little sister. Catelyn, Brynden and the Tyrells were all standing at the entrance to the main castle as Robb and Arya walked over Catelyn walked over and the three Starks hugged. Once they broke apart Robb greeted Brynden "Uncle thank you for bringing our plans forward slightly " "I knew you would want to come here and be with your sister Your Grace". Robb then turned to the Tyrells with Mace and Garlan both bowing before Robb gestured for them to rise "thank you for finding and taking god care of my sister name any reward that I can grant you and it is yours" Mace went to speak but was cut off by Garlan "we require no reward Your Grace Arya is family" Robb grinned at Mace and Garlan before shaking their hands. Robb finally turned to his Queen and embraced her with a passionate kiss before they broke apart "I have missed you so much" he said "so have I Robb I have someone I want you to meet later but I think you should spend time with Arya now" "I want to spend time with all my family together right now" Robb said before taking Margery's hand with one of his and Arya's in the other, the combined Stark, Tyrell and Tully group then went to a private room to have a much needed break from the war.